In short
- Set the screen height from your seated eye level, which is lower than most people mount it.
- A sealed equipment cabinet will cause thermal throttling. Airflow needs a path in and out.
- Infrared remotes need line of sight or a repeater — plan it before the doors are made.
- Electric fireplace clearances come from the manufacturer, not from a rule of thumb.
A media wall is a technical problem wearing a decorative face. The joinery is straightforward. What determines whether you are still happy with it in three years is heat, access and cable routing — and all three are decided before anything is manufactured.
Screen height
The centre of the screen should sit near your eye level when seated. In practice that is around 1,000 to 1,150 millimetres from the floor for most sofas — noticeably lower than the height people instinctively choose, and much lower than a mantel would place it.
Measure it in your own room, sitting on your own sofa. Mounting a screen too high is the most common complaint about media walls, and it is not fixable after the joinery is built around it.
Ventilation
A receiver, a games console or a media server in a sealed cabinet will run hot and throttle its performance. Air has to be able to enter at the bottom and leave at the top — a single vent does nothing, because there is no path.
- Vented or perforated door panels, top and bottom
- A rear plenum with an opening at both ends of the bay
- A small thermostatically controlled fan, where the equipment runs particularly hot
- Sufficient depth behind the equipment for cable bend, not just for the box itself
Cables and control
Within the cabinetry, cables run in a designed chase from the screen position down to the equipment bay. Running cables inside the wall itself is electrical work requiring a licensed electrician, which we coordinate rather than perform. Where in-wall routing is not possible, a concealed vertical chase in the joinery achieves the same visual result.
Fireplaces
Every electric fireplace publishes a minimum clearance to combustible material above it. That figure — not an estimate — sets the position of the shelf or screen above it, and we design from the specification sheet. If the appliance is gas rather than electric, clearances are stricter and any work near it must involve the appropriate licensed trade.
Before you brief us
Have these ready
- Screen make, model and exact dimensions — or the size you intend to buy
- Mount type: fixed, tilting, or full-motion arm, since each needs different depth
- A list of every box that needs power and ventilation
- Whether there is a soundbar, and whether it sits above or below the screen
- Whether a fireplace is part of the composition, and its make and model
- Where you sit, and how far from the wall
- Whether an audio-visual installer is involved, and their contact details
- What is inside the wall — stud, masonry or concrete
Craft Mill Works
Design and project coordination
Written and reviewed by the Craft Mill Works design team, based on the cabinetry and millwork projects we coordinate across North York and the Greater Toronto Area. [Add a named author and a short professional biography before launch — see README § Adding articles.]
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